State v. Woods

[Cite as State v. Woods, 2022-Ohio-3970.]
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO
ELEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
LAKE COUNTY
STATE OF OHIO, CASE NO. 2021-L-044
Plaintiff-Appellee,
Criminal Appeal from the
-v- Court of Common Pleas
ANTHONY T. WOODS,
Trial Court No. 2020 CR 000681
Defendant-Appellant.
OPINION
Decided: November 7, 2022
Judgment: Affirmed
Charles E. Coulson, Lake County Prosecutor, and Teri R. Daniel, Assistant Prosecutor,
Lake County Administration Building, 105 Main Street, P.O. Box 490, Painesville, OH
44077 (For Plaintiff-Appellee).
Vanessa R. Clapp, Lake County Public Defender, and Melissa A. Blake, Assistant Public
Defender, 125 East Erie Street, Painesville, OH 44077 (For Defendant-Appellant).
JOHN J. EKLUND, J.
{¶1} Appellant, Anthony T. Woods, appeals his conviction after pleading guilty to
one count of burglary.
{¶2} Appellant was indicted and charged with four counts arising from a burglary
in Willoughby, Ohio on July 25, 2020. Pursuant to a plea agreement, three counts were
dismissed and Appellant entered a guilty plea on one count of burglary, a felony of the
second degree, in violation of R.C. 2911.12 (A)(2). Thereafter, the matter was set for
sentencing.
{¶3} Prior to sentencing, Appellant moved the trial court to declare the Reagan
Tokes Act, as applicable to his sentencing, unconstitutional. The trial court denied the
motion. Appellant was sentenced to a prison term of four to six years.
{¶4} Appellant timely appealed. This court initially decided this case on
September 13, 2021, holding that the constitutionality of the Reagan Tokes Law was not
ripe for review. Appellant filed a motion to certify this a conflict case and this court granted
the motion. The Ohio Supreme Court reversed and remanded for further proceedings
consistent with its decision in State v. Maddox, Slip Opinion No. 2022-Ohio-764, which
held constitutional challenges to the Reagan Tokes Law are ripe for review.
{¶5} Appellant raises five assignments of error, all of which challenge the
constitutionality of the Reagan Tokes Sentencing Act.
{¶6} “[1.] The Defendant-Appellant’s constitutional challenges to the
indeterminate prison sentence of four to six years that was ordered pursuant to the
‘Reagan Tokes Act,’ AKA Senate Bill 201, are ripe for review.
{¶7} [2.] The Defendant-Appellant’s indeterminate prison sentence of four to six
years that was ordered pursuant to the ‘Reagan Tokes Act,’ AKA Senate Bill 201, must
be reversed as the Reagan Tokes Act is unconstitutionally void for vagueness.
{¶8} [3.] The Defendant-Appellant’s indeterminate prison sentence of four to six
years that was ordered pursuant to the ‘Reagan Tokes Act,’ AKA Senate Bill 201, must
be reversed as the Reagan Tokes Act unconstitutionally violates the doctrine of
separation of powers.
{¶9} [4.] The Defendant-Appellant’s indeterminate prison sentence of four to six
years that was ordered pursuant to the ‘Reagan Tokes Act,’ AKA Senate Bill 201, violates
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the constitutional right to trial by jury as guaranteed by the sixth and fourteenth
amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 5 of the Ohio
Constitution.
{¶10} [5.] The Defendant-Appellant’s indeterminate prison sentence of four to six
years that was ordered pursuant to the ‘Reagan Tokes Act,’ AKA Senate Bill 201, violates
his constitutional rights to fair trial and due process as guaranteed by the fifth, sixth and
fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 5 & 10
of the Ohio Constitution.”
{¶11} As noted above, the Ohio Supreme Court recently held that constitutional
challenges to the Reagan Tokes Law are ripe for review in State v. Maddox, supra.{¶12} In his second through fifth assignments of error, Appellant makes several
challenges to the constitutionality of the Reagan Tokes Law. Based on this court’s recent
holdings in State v. Reffitt, 11th Dist. Lake Case No. 2021-L-129, 2022-Ohio-3371, and
State v. Joyce, 11th Dist. Lake Case No. 2021-L-006, 2022-Ohio-3370, the challenges
that Appellant advances against the constitutionality of the Reagan Tokes Law have
previously been overruled. Appellant does not advance any novel argument left
unaddressed by our prior decisions.
{¶13} Appellant’s second through fifth assignments of error are without merit.
{¶14} The judgment of the Lake County Court of Common Pleas is affirmed.
THOMAS R. WRIGHT, P.J.,
MARY JANE TRAPP, J.,
concur.
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